The Golden Guitar
by strawberry-hime3
Summary: 17 months has passed, orihime is stilled haunted with memories of the Hueceo Mundo and wants something to keep her mind off them. One day she meets a kind old man, who offers her something that she thinks will help keep her mind of things. IchiXHime
1. In the window

Yo fellow writers and readers, strawberry-hime3 here and this my second story "The golden guitar" hope you all enjoy it and features ichihime (one of my fave pairings) as the main couple, this set after the time skip and ichigo keeps his powers, this is a song fic. **WARNING: Might contain a citrus concoction of lemony lime goodness.**

Remember to R&R!

PS: I hope all you readers of my other story "love is our secret" will be patient and wait for the next chapters, currently working on chap 2

Disclaimer: I do not own bleach, I wish I did though but to make it clear I don't own any manga. Bleach belongs to Kubo-sama.

Chapter 1, Inside the window

Orihime walked down the deserted sidewalk back from her part time job at the local bakery/sweet shop. She was glad she obtained a part time job, and especially since the insurance she got from her brother being dead was only enough to pay for the rent and she had hardly any money left for even food.

She gently swung the bag of bread she held in her hand back and forth. It was Friday afternoon and she had nothing to do, no one to hang out with. All her friends were doing one of their hobbies or working at their part time jobs. Take Ishida for an instant, he didn't have a job (like he needed one), he would probably be up in his room sowing one of his Quincy outfits, or somewhere in the park shooting arrows at a tree.

Ichigo would be somewhere killing a hollow or got dragged of to his job at the Unagi shop (an odd jobs business) by his crazy boss. _Kurosaki-kun . . ._she thought with a sigh.

Kurasaki Ichigo, the center of her thoughts, she wondered how the bright haired teen was doing, it had been 17 months since the war, nightmares still haunted her about the time she spent in the Hu- down there.

She wished she had something to do something to keep her mind from those frightening dreams; she didn't want to tell Tatsuki cause she new she would just worry about her. Tatsuki could see something was wrong with the healer; she asked over and over but the answer she would get was 'nothing'. Orihime didn't want to about the nightmares, only because they scared her. She didn't want to relive those horrible memories again so she kept them bottled up.

As she was thinking she walked past a new store, a music store to be exact. She wanted to get home before it was dark, she just went by it, until something in the store window caught her eye.

In the store window, set up right in the middle was a beautiful electric guitar. It was a metallic gold color and on the body of the instrument were six Hibiscus flowers of different colors slightly overlapping each other. It was so magnificent, she had seen famous singers on TV play them and they made it look so easy. Know all she could think about was how it sounded.

"Ah, something caught your eye" a man's voice came from the entrance of the shop. Orihime almost jumped in surprise at the voice, she turned around to the location of the sound and saw a short, old man standing a few feet away, he was wearing a red vest and a name tag that said "Mr. Yubashi-Owner", the she realized what she was doing.

"O-oh, I didn't mean to stare" the apologized the healer. "Don't apologize, my dear, I can see your eyeing my electric guitar, a beauty isn't it?" he asked as he looked through the store window with her. "Yes, it is" Orihime said softly. The owner smiled, "I'm glad you think so, I designed it myself," he said proudly as he examined it. "Really? Well really love the color you choose for the body, and the flowers . . ." she trailed of thinking. Her eyes skimmed over the flowers. Light green, red, pink, dark blue, black and white were the colors of the Hibiscus. She immediately thought of her Shun Shun Rikka.

"Do you know how to play?" the kind owner questioned, "ah n-no, I could never play something like this, I'm such a clutz, I would probably break it by accident" the healer ranted with a weak smile. "Oh, how about I give you lessons?" he suggested. Orihime looked at him for a moment she thought but then frowned, "I probably don't have enough money to pay you for them" she said quietly, sadness crawled on her face.

"Oh, pish-posh, I don't need money to teach one to play a guitar, I just do it for the love of music, you look like a sweet young girl and I would be delighted to teach you, only if you want to though" he asked her and turned around to face her. Orihime looked at him with hope in her eyes, "yes, I would love to learn" she said in delight and a gorgeous smile graced her lips.

"Wonderful, we'll have to schedule a times for the lessons" he said putting a hand on his chin. "Well, tomorrow's Thursday, it's my day of form work and I don't have handicrafts club on Thursdays, so how tomorrow after school. I can get here around about three thirty, how does that sound?" the healer suggested with a smile, her large grey eyes sparkling with happiness. "Perfect, oh, I just remembered, you will need a guitar and an amplifier" he said and looked back at the store window, "how about this one?" he suggested, pointing at the golden guitar.

He chuckled at the expression Orihime gave him, absolute shock. "N-n-n-no, I could never afford something like th"- "my dear, money is no object to me, I was the youngest of a very wealthy family so I have plenty of money so don't worry yourself" the shop owner said and put a hand on her shoulder. She smiled at him weakly, "o . . .ok, but I may sound rude when I say this, but if you very wealthy, why do you own a store?"

she asked with a curious face.

"For the love of music, my dear. I've grown up with music and I want to share it" he said dropping his hand of her shoulder. _For the love of music_, Orihime thought. If she learned to play she would have something to do, something to keep her mind off her scary dreams, a little bit of happiness was being offered on a silver platter, it would be stupid not to take it.

"Ok, I'll be here tomorrow" she said cheerfully, the shop owner smiled, "then it's decided, every Thursday afternoon, you'll come down for lessons. Don't worry about the guitar, we'll discuss every thing tomorrow" he said looking up at her.

"Can't wait! I hope I won't be a bother to you Yubashi-sensie," she said, using his name for the first time. Yubashi chuckled at her sense of formalness, "of course you won't be a bother, oh, and there is just one more detail" he said, making Orihime tilt her head in curiosity. "Your name" the shop owner said with a chuckle. Orihimes' eyes widened, she was so lost I the topic of their discussion that she didn't even realized that she forgot to introduce herself.

"Oh, how rude of me! My name is Orihime Inoque," she said holding out her hand. The old shopkeeper laughed and took her hand, "Yasuo Yubashi, and it's a pleasure to meet you" Yasuo said as he shook her hand.

Orihime smiled happily and then noticed the time on her watch, it said quarter past six. "Oh my! Look at the time, I must be getting home, it was a pleasure meeting, I'll promise to be on time tomorrow Yubashi-sensei" she said urgently. Orihime quickly bowed and ran off, waving back at him before she disappeared around the corner.

"What an extra ordinary girl . . ."

~oOo~

Orihime settled down on her bed after dinner. She was staring at the ceiling in deep thought. This had to be the one of the luckiest days of her life. Someone really nice had offered her electric guitar lessons and a beautiful electric guitar, all for free! Now she would have something to keep her mind of all those frightening dreams, she was so exited. The only instrument she had ever played was the recorder, and she wasn't even good at it.

_Guitar lessons . . . I wonder if I would be any good. I wonder what everyone would think, I wonder what kurasaki-kun would think_ _. ._

To be continued

~oOo~

What did you guys think of the first chapter? I hopped you all like it, and I hope you all will be patient and wait for the next chapter.

Remember to R&R!

From little miss sweet 'n' sour-

strawberry-hime3 ;D


	2. Lessons

Yo everyone! Nice to see you all again, this is the second chapter to "The Golden Guitar". Hope all those fic fans out there were patient and waited for this chapter. Like they say, patience is a virtue. Hope you all enjoy reading this chapter and remember to R&R!

PS: I found a couple of text errors in the first chapter and I hope this chapter is better.

Disclaimer: I don't bleach, (bleach belongs to Kubo-sama) or the song(s) I use in this fic.

Chapter 2, Lessons

The school bell rang, indicating the end of the day. The teens ran out of the building like they were being chased by a pack of hungry wolves. Students said their goodbyes as they went off to jobs or stayed at school to attend afterschool clubs (like the handicrafts club), or attended after school sports clubs (like the karate club Tatsuki was in).

Orihime was excited; she was going to attend her first guitar lesson very soon with her very own electric guitar. She had not told anyone about the lessons, not even Tatsuki. Orihime had decided when she got better at it; she wanted to surprise them all with a surprise performance of some sort, and she wanted to see if they would go ballistic at the performance. But she had to push all of that down; first step was she had to be good at the instrument.

She walked of to the front gate were she was greeted by Ichigo and Tatsuki. "Hey Inoque" Ichigo greeted with a wave. "Good afternoon Kurosaki-kun, Tatsuki-chan, today was such a busy day and that surprise quiz was hard, don't you guys think so?" Orihime asked politely, "no kidding, what's the point in a surprise test when you know almost nothing about the topic your being tested on?" Tatsuki asked angrily and put her hands on her hips.

"I'm just glad it's over, but it feels like the torture has just begun" the sinigami said with a sigh. "Why is that, Kurosaki-kun?" the healer said tilting her head slightly to the side. "I have work today, people want me to do the stupidest jobs, and not to mention my crazy boss hounding me every five minutes" Ichigo said slinging his bag over his shoulder. "I think you just whine too much for your own good" Tatsuki retorted.

As the two friends argued, Orihime took a look at her at her watch and gasped, obviously the two friends noticed this. "What's wrong Inoque?" Ichigo questioned, concern staining his face. It was already three fifteen and she had to get to the music store b three thirty, the store was still a fair bit away and she didn't want to be late for her first lesson; what would Yubashi-sensei think?

"I'm sorry guys, I have, uh, errands to run, I'll see you tomorrow" and with that, Orihime raced out the front gate towards the store, leaving her friends staring back with curious faces.

"What's up with her . . ."

~oOo~

Yubshi was setting up for his lesson with Orihime, he would normally teach people to play acoustic guitar but never really electric, but Orihime had not been the first one he taught how to play electric guitar.

He looked up to the clock hanging on the wall above his shop counter, _almost three thirty, he thought. _The he heard the door open. He quickly turned to see a young woman with bright hair in a school uniform grasping the doors' handle for support and gasping for air. "Am I *huff* late? *huff*" she asked still trying to breath. "Take your time to breath sweetheart, I'm not that old but I don't want you to have a heart attack before me" he joked as she started to regain her breath. Orihime laughed "sorry, I was talking to some friends then I saw what time it was ran as fast as I could so I wouldn't be late, he-heh" she said nervously rubbing the back of her neck.

The old shopkeeper laughed whole heartedly, "well aren't you thoughtful, well first down to business, you'll get to bring the guitar home after this lesson, I also have the amplifier" he said as he walked over to an amplifier the corner of the shop. He put his hand on top of a small amplifier; it was about the size of a small TV. "This here is the simplest model you can get, but we'll go into that later, oh yes, one more thing, did you get your parents permission for the lessons?" Yubashi asked, his simple smile faded when he saw Orihimes' face stiffen.

"Well . . .you see . . . I don't have parents, w-what I mean by that is, well . . . I kinda live alone" she said, the sadness was easy to pick up in her voice, "me and my brother left when I was little, but my brother died a few years later, ever since then I've lived alone" she continued her eyes slightly glazed with unshed tears. It was obvious;_ I__ might not have enough to pay you_, her words ringed inside his head. She wouldn't be able to pay for lessons because there would be no one to help her.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry I shouldn't have brought it u-" he was cut when Orihime started waving her hands in front of her face. "Oh no, don't apologize. You didn't know, I'm not mad or anything, so lets get started with the lesson," she said happily with her usual girly smile. _Bless your sweet heart dear_, Yubashi thought with a sigh.

"Alright come with me he said as he quickly jogged over to the door and turned the "Were open" sign over to the "sorry we're closed" side. Then he walked over to the back of the store and opened a door to a small soundproof room. "Ladies first" he said motioning her into the room. Orihime nodded and walked into the room, with yubashi following behind.

Once in the room, the first thing she noticed was the golden guitar sitting on a stand in the far corner of the room. The room had no windows; there was a black board at the front of the room, a desk, a small cabinet, another electric guitar, an amp, and two stools at the back of the room.

"This is where I'll be teaching you for the next couple of weeks" he said opening a little cabinet and pulling out a small wooden box. "To start of the lesson, you'll need to know everything your going to need" he said giving the small box to Orihime. "What's in it?" she asked curiously, He motioned her to take a look in side, so she did.

When she opened the box inside different colored guitar picks. "Pick one and it's yours," he said smiling. Orihime just nodded and her eyes skimmed through the box for a pick she wanted. Then her eyes stopped on one particular pick. It was bright orange, it was the exact same color as Ichigos' hair. So she quickly swiped the pick and closed the box. "Your also going to need this" the teacher said as he opened the little cabinet and pulled out a simple black leather guitar strap and attached it to her guitar.

They sat down on the stools and picked up the guitars. Yubashi taught Orihime the correct way to hold the guitar. The guitar sat on her right thigh, whilst using her left hand to hold the neck of the guitar and the right to hold the body of the guitar and to strum the strings.

"Ok lets get started, do you have any experience playing any instrument?" he asked as he tuned his guitar. His guitar was a very dark redy, brown color, and had some ones' initials on it.

"Only the recorder, and I wasn't even good at it," the healer said sheepishly. "That's all right, don't worry I'll teach you everything I know" the teacher said and smile at her. Orihime felt a feeling that she had never felt in ages, it felt as if her brother was there with her.

"Ok so . . ."

To be continued

So how was this chapter? Hope you guys like it, I'm really getting into this story and I'll be as fast as I can and write the next chapter. Pleas remember to review!

From little miss sweet 'n' sour

-strawberry-hime3


	3. Welcome to Asian Revolution

Yo, it's me again! With my attest chapter of "The Golden Guitar" hope you all like it! I didn't want to bore you guys so I did a little time skip to keep the story going good.

Disclaimer: I don't own bleach, wish did though, that be so awesome.

Chapter 3, Welcome to Asian Revolution

_4 weeks later . . . _

It had been four weeks since Orihime had started lessons, and man was she good. Her first lesson went pretty well cause she learned very quickly. She figured out how to read sheet music in one week alone, and all music he gave her to play, she played them perfectly. She claimed to be a clutz but her skills on the guitar impressed Yubashi immensely.

He had started to teach her to write her own music, what notes would go good with other notes and how to get different effects by strumming the strings in different ways. He had taught her to put all her emotion into her music, and she did. She played as if she had put all her emotion into her hands, there was so much passion and feeling when she played and the old shopkeeper couldn't help but be captivated by her music.

During the four weeks, they squeezed more lessons in; like after her work on the weekends and another weekly lesson on Monday afternoons after school. But there were some _problems_. Tatsuki started to get suspicious of why Orihime was never free anymore. Orihime still wanted to surprise them by doing a performance of some sort, but she'd figure it out anyway. Now she had to focus more on making up better excuses to feed Tatsuki.

During the time of the four weeks, Orihime felt like she had gotten closer to Yubashi, it felt like the times her brother was around, and ever since the lessons started, her nightmares haven't been bothering her. She was really glad that she was learning guitar.

~oOo~

It was one in the after noon and Orihime was practicing with her guitar in her living room. Her guitar was plugged into her amp and was on a low volume, since (Orihime being her normal thoughtful self) she didn't want to disturb the neighbors. While she was practicing, there was a knock at the door. It wasn't any of her friends since she couldn't sense any of their retsui (AN: I'm not sure if I spelled that right) so she didn't have to hide her guitar, but she did any way.

"Coming!" she yelled at the door as she placed the guitar in he closet and pushed the amp behind the other side of her couch. Then she ran to the door and opened it, not even bothering to look through the peephole to see whom it was. "Oh! Yubashi-sensei! I didn't forget an extra lesson, did I?" Orihime asked nervously as she let her teacher in. "No no, I wanted to take you somewhere to meet some people" he said as he steeped into the small apartment. "Meet some people?" the healer repeated, tilting he head slightly. "Yes, I came to see if you were doing anything, you don't have to come today though" Yubashi said thoughtfully, "Oh, well I didn't have anything planned, so now is fine" she said happily, but then looked down at her clothes. She was wearing a pair of grey sweats and her was tied up in a messy ponytail.

"Not to be rude, but I think I should change. I look like a mess," she said sheepishly forcing out a small laugh. "Take your time dear, I'll wait for you down front in my car, oh and remember to bring your guitar" Yubashi said and left her alone.

Orihime had many questions about where they were going and who they she was going to meet but she said she would find out eventually. She quickly chucked on a yellow that showed quite a bit of her cleavage and a black jacket where the sleeves stopped at her elbows and stopped halfway down her waist. She also slid on a pair of skinny jeans that scrunched up at the ankle, she tried to find her high tops but she must of chucked them some where in the house cause she couldn't find them.

Remembering that she had someone waiting for her, she quickly put on some black stilettos she found in her closet as a short-term replacement. She did her hair up in a high ponytail and quickly grabbed her guitar out of the closet and then gently putting it in the case that Yubashi gave her to carry it in. She grabbed her phone, wallet, and keys and shoved them down into her pockets and ran out the door and locking it behind her.

Yubashi looked up to see Orihime bounding down the stairs; she looked as if she was so happy she was glowing. When Orihime got to the car, she studied it. It was a small Toyota Camry, 2002 model, from what she could tell. "Put your guitar in the back sit" he said motioning to the back of the car. Orihime nodded and put the instrument in the back and got in the passengers' sit in the front of the car.

"Um, Yubashi-sensei, where are we going?" she finally asked, putting on her seatbelt. "To meet some very talented kids . . ."

~oOo~

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at a pretty big house, probably owned by some one pretty wealthy. They were pretty far from her house, but she still wanted to meet the teens her teacher was talking about. Of what she could find out was they were members of a band and they were all about her age.

The house they were at was very presenting. It had a beautiful garden with a little fountain in the middle. On the right side of the house there was a garage and she could hear people chattering and playing of music. Unfortunately the garage door was closed so she couldn't see the people inside. "You grab your guitar and meet in the garage," he said getting out of the car. Orihime just smiled and got out as well. While Orihime was getting her guitar, Yubashi went over to the garage and banged on the door. "Emiko! Can I come in!" he yelled through the door, his voice trying to get over the loud music. The music immediately stopped and someone was opening the, but the door stopped rolling up when it reached Yubashis' chest. "It's stuck" a female voice groaned in annoyance, "it's ok dear, I my back isn't going to break" he said as he bent under the door.

"What brings you here gramps?" a boy as tall as Ichigo said putting his drum sticks down. "Well there is someone I would like you to meet, she's a student of mine," Yubashi said, and then they could see someone wearing a pair of stilettos with dark blue denim skinny jeans and carrying a simple leather electric guitar case walk up to the garage door. Since the door was only open about halfway, they weren't able to see the girls face.

"You can come in dear," the old shopkeeper said. So the girl bent down under the door. Their eyes widened when a beautiful young women with bright hair and a generous chest stepped into the garage.

"Ok everyone, I would like you all to meet Orihime Inoue," he said with a grin. _Thank Kami I didn't bump my head on the door, _she thought she didn't want to embarrass herself. Orihime quickly bowed, "I-it's a pleasure to meet you" she said as she straightened herself up. "Don't have to be so formal, my name is Washi Haruko, the bands' drummer, and that's my twin bro Tamasine, the bands' pianist, but you can call him Tama" Washi said and pointed over to a boy who was standing over near a keyboard.

Washi and Tama weren't identical, but there were some similarities. Like they both were the same height, same body build, and they both had the most amazing green eyes. Washi had messy, spiked out black hair while Tama had long, dark navy blue hair, so it was pretty easy to tell them apart. Their style of clothes was also very different. Washi wore very baggy clothes whilst Tama wore tight, sensible clothes a lot like Ishidas' clothes.

"Yes and this is my only granddaughter, Emiko Yubashi, the bands' bassist," Yubashi said and put his hand on the shoulder of the young woman in between him and Washi. Emiko was just a tad bit shorter than Orihime and had short, spiky brown hair. She had a very curvy figure and small breasts. Her hair had been died, since there was a pink streak going down her fringe. Her eyes were a honey color, and a simple frown was stuck to her lips.

"And she's all mine, so you can't have her" Washi joked and slung an arm around her shoulders. Obviously they were going out. "Well like I said, it's a pleasure to meet you all, but, um, Yubashi-sensei, you haven't actually told me what I'm doing here," Orihime said with a pout. "Yeah grampa, what _is_ she doing here" Emiko said in a harsh tone. "Ouch, what's with the 'tude 'miko?" Washi said with a frown, "nothing I just want to know why she's here, that's all" Emiko replied.

"Ok ok, settle down kids, the reason I brought Orihime here is because you said you needed a new member to your band, an electric guitarist to be exact, and so I brought you Orihime to be the bands' newest member" he said and the room went quiet.

"What!" all the kids said in simultaneously. "You heard me, I brought Orihime to be your new electric guitarist" Yubashi repeated, "yeah we heard that, but we can't just let anyone join our band, like all performers who want a part in a band, they have to audition" Emiko said smugly, giving an evil look towards Orihime. "Not to be rude, but I have to agree with Emiko" Tama said, leaning against a wall. "Easy then, we let her play to see what's she's got" Washi said with a cheeky grin.

"Fine" Emiko said angrily, "the amp's over there, show us what ya got big tits"-"Emiko!" Yubashi and Washi yelled, Orihime couldn't help but blush. She always new her breasts were bigger than the average teens', but said it to her face. But Emikos' actions also made her feel bad; she didn't do anytihng and this person was already treating her like crap.

"Oh dear, I forgot to ask, Orihime, would you like to try out for the band?" Yubashi said and looked up at her. "O-of course! I never been part of a band before, I would to be part of it!" she said and skipped over to the amp near the drum set. She put the case down and opened it and took her guitar. "Sweet guitar," Washi complimented as Orihime put the strap over her shoulder and plugged the guitar into the amp. "Thanks, but Yubashi-sensei was the one who designed it" Orihime said and picked up her pick.

All the other band members stared at Yubashi, "what? I can be cool and modern when I want to be," he said with a laugh. "Yeah yeah, can we just get on with it?" Emiko said, impatience easy to detect in her voice. "Ok Inoue-san, show us what you can do" Tama said and they all waited for her start.

Orihimes' nerves were getting to her, what if they didn't like her music? What if she made a mistake? Then Yubashi quickly gave her a thumbs up, reassuring her that everything was going to be okay. She smiled at this and started to play.

_About two or three minutes later . . ._

"How was that?" Orihime asked when she finished her piece. The others just stared with wide eyes. The silence was long; a smirk simply plastered itself on Yubashis' lips.

"Emergency band meeting!" Washi yelled and the band members huddled together.

"You did good," Yubashi said as he walked over to Orihime. "I hope so, but may I ask, why do they need a new guitarist? What happened to the old one?" Orihime asked. "Well it's a long story, you see not to long ago their guitarist, Rin, had left the band."

Yubashi continued, "Emiko is the bands lead female singer and Washi the lead male. The band has been together for two years now, Emiko and Rin had been best friends since they were kids, and they formed this band. Now, even though they were best friends, Emiko was also very Jealous of Rin. Rin was gorgeous, a natural beauty, a lot like you" he said with a smile, Orihime blushed at the compliment. "On with the story, they were trying to get a recording contract with on of Japans' biggest recording studios, SYN. Now after the audition, they were told that they would be contacted within a week. So they waited. They were contacted, but they down side was that they only wanted to sign Rin and not the rest of the group" Yubashi said sadly.

Orihime watched on with wide eyes and waited for him to continue. "Don't look to surprised yet, it gets worse. You see, Rin might have been beautiful and a great guitarist, but they were looking for a singer and Rin was, well, a terrible singer. The worse part is when Rin accepted the offer. They knew she couldn't sing, they only wanted her for her looks. They recorded some tracks with her and simply altered her voice. The rest of the band was outraged by her actions, but she said that they just weren't as talented as her and of course she left the band. A week later she moved to the US with out even saying goodbye." Yubashi said and eyed the group of friends still debating.

"Tha . . . That's horrible" Orihime said in shock. "Yes it truly is. I know that you have realized by now that Emiko doesn't like you, that's the whole reason why. She's still hurting, and seeing you reminds her of Rin. But don't worry, she'll get over it" he said in confidence. Orihime smiled her brightest smile, "Thank you, Yubashi-sensei, for everything" she said with a small bow.

Just then the band members turned around and they all smiled, except for Emiko.

"Congrats Orihime-chan, welcome to Asian Revolution"

To be continued

I hope this quickly redone chapter was ok. I had my friend went over this the other day and said, "when are you going to actually put some ichihime into this story?"

Well don't worry your impatient little heads; the next chapter "Nightmares" is going to be more ichihime.

Name meanings-

Emiko: Beautiful

Washi: Eagle

Tamasine: Twin

Yasuo (yubashi-sensei): Peaceful One

Remember to R&R! 

From little miss sweet 'n' sour

-strawberry-hime3


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